New Study Finds No State Adequately Supports Immigrant Students Nationwide

(UNITED STATES) A sweeping report released on August 21, 2025 by The Century Foundation finds that not a single state in the United States provides fully adequate support for immigrant and newcomer students. The “report card” grades states on funding, civil rights protections, and targeted programming. Many states—including Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Montana, and West Virginia—received an “F,” underscoring what researchers call systemic failures that leave millions of immigrant students without the services they need to learn and graduate.

The findings arrive amid a wider breakdown in federal education leadership. With Washington offering little direction, states now carry the load for civil rights protections, funding decisions, and program coordination for immigrant students. That shift has produced wide differences across the country—strong supports in a few places, but thin or nonexistent services in many others.

State Grades and Funding Gaps

The Century Foundation finds most states rely on general funding formulas for English learners (ELs) and do not distinguish clearly between newcomers and long-term ELs. Treating ELs as a single funding bucket often misses critical needs such as:

• Intensive English language development
• Counseling for students with interrupted schooling
• Translation and family outreach for newly arrived families

A few states do stand out with more targeted approaches:

• Colorado
  • In 2023, House Bill 24-1389 appropriated $24 million for districts enrolling new arrival students after the fall count.
  • The English Language Proficiency Act allocated over $31 million for English language development, including newcomers.
• Massachusetts
  • The FY25 Multilingual Newcomer and Homeless Support Grant funds districts facing surges in newcomer and homeless enrollment.
  • Funds cover translation, emergency supplies, and culturally responsive instruction.

By contrast, several large states use broad formulas without newcomer-specific categories:

• California
  • The Local Control Funding Formula offers extra grants for high-need students, including ELs, but has no dedicated newcomer category and weak oversight.
• Florida
  • The Education Finance Program raises per-student funding for ESOL students by 20.8%, yet does not account for time in the U.S.
• Georgia
  • The Quality Basic Education formula assigns a weight of 2.5880 for ESOL students but includes no special support for newcomers.

Civil rights and equity advocates argue these gaps undermine the promise of equal access. According to The Century Foundation, the lack of targeted funding, transparent reporting, and accountability allows many districts to miss core services that help newly arrived students adjust and succeed. Leaders in places like Colorado and Massachusetts point to dedicated funding streams and public reporting as workable models—but these remain exceptions, not the norm.

Higher Education Access Tightens in 2025

K–12 findings collide with major shifts in college access. As of June 2025:

• 24 states and Washington, D.C. offer in-state tuition for undocumented residents.
• 19 states and D.C. provide state financial aid for undocumented students.

This year, however, Florida and Texas rescinded in-state tuition for undocumented students, sending costs soaring for tens of thousands. In those states, tuition for undocumented students can triple or even quadruple, effectively shutting many out of public colleges. Meanwhile, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina continue to prohibit undocumented students from enrolling in public higher education institutions at all.

These reversals reflect fast-moving legal battles:

• Texas was the first state to extend in-state tuition to undocumented students (2001).
• In June 2025, the Department of Justice sued Texas, and a federal judge later ruled the state’s tuition-equality law unconstitutional.
• These legal decisions prompted policy rollbacks and signal legal risks for other states.

With federal action stalled, further state-level changes are likely. Students face growing uncertainty about where they can enroll and how they will pay for college.

Support Networks, Scholarships, and Advising

Families trying to understand civil rights protections for English learners can review the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights guidance on EL services: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/ellresources.html.

Advocates report that the loss of in-state rates pushes students into a patchwork of private and nonprofit support:

• VisaVerge.com reports many students now rely on private scholarships and campus-based grants when state aid is blocked or limited.
• TheDream.US, the largest scholarship provider for undocumented students, continues to fill gaps where states offer little or no help.
  • Gaby Pacheco, who leads that program, stresses that cost remains the biggest barrier and urges students to seek creative pathways (private scholarships, dual credit courses) to lower total degree costs.
• Felecia Russell of the Presidents’ Alliance urges educators and counselors to track policy updates closely and guide students to state-specific resources that still exist.

For K–12 schools, the core issue is targeted support. The Century Foundation finds most states still fund ELs as a single group, even though newcomer students often need very different services. Typical newcomer needs include:

• Intensive English instruction in the first year
• Trauma-informed counseling
• Family interpretation and outreach

General EL weights rarely cover these services. Without dedicated funding and clear rules, supports often depend on local budgets or one-time grants, which disappear when money gets tight.

Classroom and Family Impacts

The human impact appears across classrooms and college advising offices:

• In poorly graded states, teachers welcome students who speak little English but lack time and resources to meet their needs.
• High school seniors face college deadlines without clear aid options.
• Families, unsure about what to disclose and to whom, may avoid asking for help.
• Advocates caution that undocumented students should be careful when disclosing immigration status, even when applying for aid.

In supportive states, students often use state-specific aid forms (instead of the federal FAFSA) to apply for grants available to undocumented residents.

Policy Responses and Recommendations

Policy debates feature proposals like “school choice” and universal education freedom accounts. The Century Foundation notes that such ideas, often promoted by groups like ALEC, do not directly address newcomer-specific needs.

Civil rights groups recommend states and districts should:

• Create newcomer-specific funding categories
• Train and hire more bilingual educators
• Set clear oversight rules so services reach the students who need them most
• Maintain transparent reporting and baseline standards so progress is measurable

According to The Century Foundation, meaningful progress requires both clear rules and sustained resources. Without baseline standards and transparent data, it’s difficult to know whether districts are:

• Reaching newcomer families
• Placing students in appropriate classes
• Supporting students through graduation

And without dedicated dollars, even the best plans will struggle in schools that are already stretched.

As of August 21, 2025, the picture is stark: no state meets the highest standard of support for immigrant students. A few have begun building the right tools—dedicated newcomer funding, public reporting, and direct outreach—but most have not. Until states build systems that match newcomers’ real needs, immigrant students will continue to face a lottery by ZIP code, and the promise of equal education under the law will remain out of reach for many.